Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Scream 4 (2011) - Craven & Williams serve an irresistable slasher treat

6/24/2015

Scream 4 (2011) - Craven & Williams serve an irresistable slasher treat

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The cool poster for Wes Craven's Scream 4

Eleven years have passed since the events of Scream 3 (2000), and Sidney Prescott has found a new life for herself and written a book about her bloody experiences. But as she returns to Woodsboro on her book tour, a new series of gruesome murders begins by the hands of two new Ghostfaced killers.

A good 10 years of cooling off was apparently just what the Scream franchise needed since the vapid last film. Horror maestro Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)) is back here, directing a Kevin Williams (Scream (1996)) script. And Scream 4 is easily the series' next best entry, only bested by the original Scream.
This reboot is rife with raw energy, kills, humor and new stars (SPOILER that all die.) It looks great, shot by Peter Deming (Drag Me to Hell (2009)), lighted in a more rough design than the earlier films that suits this new update of the Scream universe.
The fresh, exciting stars, many of whom suffer gruesome, inventive deaths, include: Emma Roberts (We're the Millers (2013)), Marielle Jaffe (Locked Away (2010)), Hayden Panettiere (Nashville (2012-16)), Erik Knudsen (Beastly (2011)), Nico Tortorella (Odd Thomas (2013)), Anthony Anderson (Bound (2013)), Mary McDonnell (Donnie Darko (2011)) and Rory Culkin (You Can Count On Me (2000)). Neve Campbell (The Company (2003)), David Arquette (Eight Legged Freaks (2002)) and Courtney Cox (Cougar Town (2009-15)) are all back, and Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)) and Anna Paquin (The Piano (1993)) appear in cameos in an entertaining opening scene.
The only minus about Scream 4 SPOILER is that the murderer feels the need to over-explain the fatalities in the end.
But Scream 4 is still a brilliant slasher and a deserved return to form for Craven, who hasn't directed since, - and might have quietly retired with Scream 4?

Related posts:

Wes Craven: 2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) or, Don't Fall Asleep!

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 97.1 mil. $
= Minor flop
[Scream 4 opened #2 to 19.3 mil. $ in North America, where it grossed 38.1 mil. $ (39 % of the total gross). It made an additional 4.1 mil. $ from video sales in the US. Its performance is by many considered disappointing, although producer Harvey Weinstein has said that he was happy with the gross of the film, (which has accrued more profits via streaming and thru other channels.) But a 5th and 6th film, talked about prior to the release of Scream 4, have not materialized. - Instead, we're getting a Scream TV-series!]

What do you think of Scream 4?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (15-24)

6/24/2015

Scream 4 (2011) - Craven & Williams serve an irresistable slasher treat

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